1. Hakol March April 2013 - Hewlett E. Rockaway Jewish Center

eligious school
DAVID WOOLFE
Contrary to what you might suppose, I was not a stellar Religious
School student. Quite the contrary. In fact, when it came time for my
Bar Mitzvah, I put my foot down and told my mom “I wasn’t going
to do it. Uh-uh. No Bar Mitzvah for me.” My mom shrugged and
said, “Fine.” Don’t make the mistake of thinking she was engaging
in reverse psychology. She was just fed up with me.
I ended up having a Bar Mitzvah for one reason only. It was
important to my granddad. I completely adored my granddad and I
could not imagine disappointing him. In other words, ultimately,
engaging as a Jew wasn’t about holidays, or mitzvot or the Torah portion. For me, it was
about my granddad.
It was personal.
I was thinking of that recently. Probably because my uncle’s Uncle Sigmund is dying.
He is over ninety and quite a remarkable man. He has, as we say, lived a life. What I
know of him is only a fraction of the things he has done and lived through. Born and
raised in Norway, he skied out of Oslo during the Second World War and joined the
Royal Norwegian Air Force, only to be shot down over Holland. From there, he swam
in the Zuider Zee to an island where he was captured by the Nazis. Blonde-haired and
blue-eyed (not to mention able to speak perfect German), he managed to escape from
more than one prison camp. What I remember best from hearing about these exploits
was the humanity with which he described a prison guard.
I am leaving out a great deal, a great deal that is worth leaving in. But, my point is
not Sigmund’s exploits. Out of his extended family, so very few survived the Holocaust.
He came to America after the war where his brother had come twenty years earlier. He
became an engineer. Never married. Never had children. Remains devoted to his nieces
and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and their families.
He will pass on at home after having lived a long, incredibly interesting life during
which it seems he lived a life full enough for those who were robbed of their chance to
live the lives they deserved. He is now and will continue to be surrounded by loving
family members. Long life and devoted family – gifts denied the vast majority of his
family.
He has never been what I would call a “synagogue” Jew. His life is a testament to how
being Jewish can fill the canvas of one’s years, with more color and shape than just the
things we commonly think of when we think of “being Jewish.” Thinking about his
incredible life is so powerful to me now. I know that for weeks and for months, perhaps
a good deal longer, my Jewish experience will be deeper and more important for it being
more personal. Because of Sigmund.
Whether because of the heroic exploits of truly remarkable people, or just because
you adore someone in your wonderful families, I hope you find ways every day to make
being Jewish more “personal” and in doing so, make it more meaningful.
In Religious School, we try to give our students the tools to live a meaningful Jewish
life. Actually living that kind of life is up to them and up to you.
It’s always personal.
Sisterhood
Remembers
Your Child
in College
Sisterhood mails
packages to our
college students for
Hanukkah and Passover
at no charge!
To participate,
please email your name,
your child’s name
and address at school
to secy@herjc.org
BY MARCH 8
Your kids will enjoy!
Open to HERJC
members only.
Learn to
Read Torah
No Experience
Necessary
Join the growing number
of HERJC congregants
who are studying with
Hazzan Sislen to learn
how to read Torah!
The curriculum proceeds
at your own pace,
takes as long or as
short as you like and has
guaranteed results!
Call Hazzan Sislen at
516-599-2634 x215
or email
cantorsislen@herjc.org
HAKOL
www.herjc.org
MARCH/APRIL 2013 page 23